


Dusk Falls

by BabyChocoboAlchemist



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Comfort, Friendship, M/M, One-sided love?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-10 00:13:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13492779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyChocoboAlchemist/pseuds/BabyChocoboAlchemist
Summary: "As someone that cares deeply for him, I cannot find it in me to have him make another painful choice. I'd rather meet a slow, agonizing end under an enemy's blade." Arthur confides in Effie about something that's bothering him-and It concerns a young man he's become incredibly close to. Arthur writes himself off as nothing more than a problem, dismissing the friend he has been, dismissing the loyal, kind-hearted, selfless soldier he has been in his lord's darkest hours.Inspired by L0NE's 'Nightmare' and ever-growing love for Arthur.





	Dusk Falls

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome. Thank you for coming!
> 
> The Male Avatar's name in this is Arielle. The Female Avatar's name is Stella. Brother and sister's names were inspired by the moon and stars.

Arthur danced with justice. He had a few dinners with it, confided in it, and shared with it his fondest dreams. However, his relationship with the truth wasn't so pretty.

He was uncharacteristically silent, enveloped in the morning's fragile, golden calm. It was there in their castle courtyard she found him, a lone figure underneath the morning's rising hours, oddly silent when he was normally vibrant. Out and about, serving whatever soul needed a helping hand. He may as well have been a pink camel, rooted to the castle courtyard's fertile earth. It happened a couple of times in the past, him being slapped in the face by truth's cold, merciless hands, but just a short while ago, the gods and goddesses elevated his bad luck to the point of no return. The deities of truth saw fit to slam a battering ram into the sides of his head. Surely they were just as merciless as the dragons many revered.

She brought it to him, the outbreak of truth, shock and discovery. In just the blink of an eye, time and space met a grinding halt. Her eyes bore into him, the fearless, pleading eyes of the Lady Stella, piercing his soul with fervent fire no force could ignore. She was as quiet as an oncoming storm but just as powerful as one in full force, telling him what he already knew, bringing it to light. Revealing what should have been remained hidden.

"You're in love with him."

"Please don't be shy about it. He needs someone pure and good. He needs someone like you. So please. Don't hold back. It doesn't have to be today. It doesn't have to be tomorrow. Just tell him. Please."

He stood in the castle courtyard, unmoving, lost in a whirlpool of memories. Of course he had been born with a curse, one destined to be lifelong, but he didn't think the deities would worsen the curse. Which one of them saw fit to bless him with inexcusable stupidity? What right did he have to revere Lord Arielle? To see him as a gift from the gods? 

The dark corner of Arthur's mind was smaller than stardust, but it was as loud as a dragon's cry, and it was certain one of the gods was having a good laugh.

So of course he couldn't move. Couldn't think. Could barely even blink without thinking of that smile. The warm, sad, sincere, piercing set of eyes behind that smile. Couldn't think, couldn't stop thinking of how much he wanted to protect those eyes, couldn't remember his own name, couldn't sleep, couldn't be. Couldn't. Just couldn't. Nothing made sense, not even the ground beneath his feet. Fortunately, a gentle and much-needed presence approached him, her face wreathed in concern.

"Hey. What're you doing here, you big galoot? You're usually out helping the townsfolk."

Arthur smiled at Effie, his fellow retainer and friend. She was unaccompanied, alone in the waking, fragile hours. His warmth was bittersweet; he failed to knock out the pangs bothering him, failed to erase the worry, the panic, the regret. And upon seeing such things in his eyes, the concern in Effie's eyes deepened. "Okay, what is it?" she asked after his 'well, good morning, fellow defender of justice'. 

"And don't tell me it's nothing. The last time you had that look on your face, you weren't able to save a child's stuffed toy from a fire. You went on about that for days. So what is it now?"

"Oh, it's nothing, really," was his immediate response, accompanied by a set of slumped shoulders and sad eyes. "It's just that...Lady Stella knows something about me."

Effie's eyes became the morning's gentle embers. She knew Arthur as well as her lance, and the look within his eyes was nothing to be taken lightly. He and Arielle, over a series of events that ground Arielle's heart into ashes, became the closest of friends. Sometimes the two of them were caught underneath one of the castle trees, Arielle sound asleep in Arthur's arms. Only able to sleep as peaceful as a child in Arthur's arms. "It's about Lord Arielle, isn't it?"

Her friend's smile was bright and infinitely warm, but stricken with pain that was just as powerful. "I'm afraid so. She knows I harbor great fondness for our Lord Arielle, and urged me to pursue these feelings."

"Then why do you look like another kid lost his stuffed cow?"

He shook his head, most of the warmth vanishing, replaced by regret. "It would be foolish and selfish of me to answer Lady Stella's request. Our lord has no shortage of suitable admirers, but even if he didn't, I couldn't find it in myself to act upon the feelings I bear. I would be nothing but a burden to him. Prince or not, Arielle deserves someone far greater than I. He deserves someone stronger. Wiser. Besides, he's already had his heart broken by one choice. As someone that cares deeply for him, I cannot find it in me to have him make another painful choice. I'd rather meet a slow, agonizing end under an enemy's blade. The best I can do, as someone that cares very much for him, is to remain devoted to our Lady Elise, and to our cause."

He laughed, eyes on fire with light trying to be exuberant but emerging as bittersweet. Strained. "Anyways, you won't believe the horrors I endured last night. I couldn't sleep much, and in trying to do so, I found myself counting sheep. But in the end, the sheep turned into chickens and you know how troublesome chickens can be when you're trying to sleep. They're rather loud and chatty little creatures! I don't know how or when the sheep became chickens but there they were, and then they were suddenly joined by cows! Imagine that!"

"Yeah, imagine that," Effie sighed, hand against her forehead, memories sweeping through her as lightbeams of fondness, sadness, frustration. 

She knew nothing of Arielle being close by, listening to every word.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for reading. This had to get out of me, as I'm an avid Arthur lover and after reading 'Nightmare' by L0NE, there was this mad urge to have this posted. Going through my own playthrough of Fire Emblem Conquest, and wishing Male Corrin could romance any one of the male characters, I can't help but fall madly in love with all things Arthur. He struck me as the usual theatrical, cheesy hero for a second-just a second-but it's been pure infatuation ever since. And I'm going on Chapter 10. He was a big medicine ball after 'The Path is Yours' chapter kinda broke my heart into a billion pieces. I thought Conquest wouldn't be so bad after all, having someone like him on my team.
> 
> Arthur comes with the perfect voice actor and strikes me as underappreciated, up against suitors like Kaze, Xander, Leo, Takumi and Laslow, whether you're playing as male or female Corrin. This verse has him vying for the Male Avatar's affections against Kaze and Xander, in addition to the Male Avatar having a bit of a crush on Takumi ("A man that's as beautiful as a woman unnerves me!").


End file.
